Hat-blocking machine



Feb. 24, 1925. n 1,527,801

w. R. HoL'rTUM ET AL HAT BLOCKING'MAGHINE 42 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Aug. 8, 1922 @XIV //////////////l/ Feb. 24, 1925. v1,527,801

w. R. HOLTTUM ET AL.

HAT BLOCKING MACHINE FledAug. 8, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented F eb. 24, 1925.

A"UNITED STATES PATENT crates.

WALTER RICHARD HOLITT'UM, HARRY GEORGE, AND RALPH=LESTER,OF 'UTLQN,

ENGLAND.

I-IAT-IBJI()(IKINGE1 MACHINE.

`Application inea August 8,. 1922 .Toall wwm z't may concern:

Be .it ...known that we, lamina 1. Ricnmno fI-IoLTTUM, subject of the .King of Great Britain,

5. LEsTnR, .of Brown and Green Limited, .British irm,. residing y:at 14 Dallow -Roach Luton, Bedfordshire, England, and Windsor Street, Luton, Bedfordshire, England, rc- ,.spectively, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Hat-Blocking yMachines; and we `doA hereby` declare the following to be .a full, clear, .and exactdescription of the invention, -such las will `enable others '..skilled in the. art to which it appertains to 15 make and use the same.

This invention relates to' machines `for blocking straw, felt or velour hats and particularly to `machines Awherein blocking .is effected bye means ofa. steam or otherwise internally; heatedfemale mould or `pan and a male mould in the form of an expansible :rubberorother bag carried by a cap membersaidbag operating to.` press the; material agalnst the interior surface of .the heated pan to form the crownl the brim being simultaneously formed by compression between.

the opposingsurfaces of the cap and the an.

p An object ofthe present invention is `to provide ahat blocking machine in which the female portion or portionsl ofthe mould is or are capable of being moved out of alignment with the male .portion of the mould wherebythe positioning of the blanks or the removal of the vshapes from the female portion or portions ofthe mould is effected in safety and in a more convenient vmanner than heretofore.

A further object object of the invention is to provide a hat blocking machine in ywhich the operation of blocking stantially continuous.

The invention consists broadly of a hat blocking machine which comprises a two part mould consisting of a male portion `and a female portion which latter portion is adapted to be moved axially relative to the male portion wherein the female portion .is adapted to be moved `laterally out of alignmentV with the male portion when the two portions `are in the separated position.

A hat blocking machine according to one embodiment of the invention comprises a stationary cap, carrying .one part of the and HARRY z GEORGE and Barrin serial no. 580,449.

:m0uld;and one, two or moreppansfcarrying v the othernfpart :of `the :mould which.u pansxare l pi-voted whereby Ithe same `may be'` swung `in .brim and .a :horizontal lplane alternatively into .aand

out:l ofllposfitionbeneath the stationarycalp and .means fori raising each. positioned pan vertically towards the cap to `effect:the

blocking operai-,ion` i and for lowering 1' the sameat .the` completionl `of suclr operation.

The panscare'heated by-means of conwhich is passed tinto `the in- Meansare also provided fluid such `as air or `cold interior of theibag and into .the aforesaid steam .spaces for .cooling purposes. :This permits; of .the blocking of hats to any desired finish :such as a com-- pletely rigid hater hat having a rigid soft crown or a 'completely soft also when desired hat.

\ ,In order .that the invention maltyy be# clearly understood an embodimento i the same will now vbe Ydescribedby aid: .ofy vhe accompanying drawingsin whichemay be'sub- Fig. -l is a front elevation ofthe machine shewing the pans swung outwardsfand-Gthe -ram lowered.

enlarged scale.

Figs. 5 and 6 are a sectional plan and vertical section respectively ofdrivingr4 gear and gear box.

Figs. 7 and 8 are end'elevation and plan respectively of one form of belt striking gear.

The hat blocking machine illustrated in the drawings comprises a hollow cap member l of substantially conventional form the lower open end of which lisfnormally closed by a rubber or theflike bag 2 constituting the male portionof thev mould. This lcap is provided with an airbottle 3 and a pressure gauge 4 and `the same is adapted toreceive air or water underpressure through an, inlet pipe 5. This capis supported upon fa pair of turned vertical is formed with a cut away portion 11 for a purpose hereafter to be explained.

Slidably and pivotally mounted upon each of these columns is a bracket 12 to each of which is bolted a pan 13. These pans are hollow and are adapted to receive the female portion 14 of the mould the upper edges of which rest upon the annular faces 15 of the pans. Beneath each of these faces is a circular cored passage 16 to which concealed steam is admitted during the blocking operations for the purpose of heating up the edges of the mould and producing stiff brims on the blocked hat shapes. Steam is also adapted to be admitted to the interiorof each pan in the space around the mould by way of the three openings 17 for the purpose of initially heating the moulds. at the commencement of blocking operations. During normal working this steam is shut o and admitted only to the cored passages 16. Handles 18 are provided on each pan for use in swinging the same about the columns 6.

, The base of each bracket 12 is provided with a depending lug 19 which rest in the cut away portions 11 and constitute, with the ends of such cut away portions, stops for limiting the inward and outward positions of the pans. The bottom of each pan is formed with a flat boss 2O which, when a pan is in the inward position, rests upon the upper surface of the head 21 of a ram 22. This ram, see Fig. 6, is threaded internally and such threaded portion is engaged by a screwed spindle 23 which is adapted to be rotated for the purpose of raising or lowering the ram through the medium of a worm 24 and a worm wheel 25 keyed upon or otherwise secured to the lower end of the screwed spindle 23. Theworm 24 is driven in either direction by means of a pair of driving pulleys 26 and 27 through.

the medium of gearing. This gearing is contained within a casing 28 and comprises a pair of toothed wheels 29 mounted upon a shaft 30 which is driven bythe pulley 26 and a further toothed wheel 31 mounted upon a hollow sleeve 32. This sleeve is mounted co-aXially ugon the shaft 30 and the same is adapted tobe driven by the other pulley 27 The toothed wheels 29 mesh with further toothed wheels 33l mount ed upon the worm `spindle 34 and upon opposite sides of the worm. The toothed wheel 31 serves to drive the worm shaft in the reverse direction by means of a toothed wheel 35 mounted thereon andan intering of the ram shall be automatic in action with the exceptionl of the initial starting operations which are preferably manually effected.- For this purpose we illustrate one means of controlling the position of the belt striking fork 38. cam 39 which is carried by and moves with the striking rod 40 and is normally maintained in the neutral position shewn in Fig. 8 by means of a pair of springs`41 and 42 arranged co-axially around the rod 40 on 80 opposite sides of the cam and between the cam and a pair of bearing brackets 43. Coacting with the edge of this cam is a roller 44 carried upon the lower endy of a cranked bracket 45 the otherl end of which is at- 85 tached to and moves with the head 21 of the ram 22. In operation the striking rod is manually pulled longitudinally soA as to shift the position of the cam to one side or the other of the neutral position and to simultaneously compress one of the springs. This movement also operates to move the striking fork so as to bring the belt into engagement with either one of the pulleys 26 or 27. Assuming that the belt is en- 95 gaged with the pulley 26, this operates. to l raise the ram 22 and with Ait the roller 44A which is free to travel up one side of the cam during which traversingmovement the cam is thereby held against the tension of the spring 41. The ram therefore continues to rise until the roller has 'reached the top of the cam when the tension on the spring being relaxed the same operates to return the cam striking fork and belt to its neutral 105 position. The ram remains'in the elevated position until the striking rod is again operated as before but in the opposite direction with the Vresult that the roller commences to travel down the opposite side of the cam untilV at the bottom the spring 42 returns the cam again to its neutral position. It will thus be seen that the blocking operations are substantially continuous inasmuch as when one pair isin the blocking or inward position the other is swung out clear of the machine for the removal of the completed hat shape and the positioning of a further blank after which it is again swung into position above the ram when the other panhas been similarly removed.

It will of course be appreciated Ythat any form of gearing may be employed in connection with the plunger raising and lowering mechanism the gearing described and illustrated being given merely by way of" example and either hand or power operation may be used.

What we cla1ni is:-

"A hat blocking machine comprising a 130 These means comprise a 75 base, a pair of spaced Vertical standards rising therefrom, a mold composed of a male member and a pair of female members, the male member being permanently mounted between said standards and the female members being mounted one on each standard for rotation with respect thereto and for vertical sliding movement tberealong, whereby they may alternately be swung into alinement with the male member and be operatively and inoperatively disposed with respect thereto.

In witness whereof we llave signed this speellieatlon in the presence of two Witnesses.

WALTER RICHARD HOLTTUM. HARRY GEORGE,

Director. RALPH LESTER,

Secretwy.

Witnesses:

HAD Woon, HARRY A. BRICE. 

